Severely Ensnared
by EleanorReynolds
Summary: So... I've been sitting on this 70,000 word story for about 7 years now and thought I would submit the Intro. If anyone's interested in the story, I'll post, just let me know. Mostly smut, smut, and more smut. A few inconsistencies but working on it. -Finally updated after 4 months... sorry guys! Will be posting more now
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

So you want to know my story? I promise you it will be a rough ride, with more downs than ups. The pureblood life isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when you're a teenage Death Eater starting your sixth year at Hogwarts. I guess I should tell you a little about myself before I relate my crazy... adventure, for lack of a better word. It is absolutely no understatement to say that I was a typical Slytherin - I was good at worming my way out of situations I didn't like, I was manipulative, all my friends were Slytherins, the whole shebang. I was known for being very open, meaning I didn't hide my true self from anyone. I didn't care what people thought of me, and I just happened to fit in with the worst crowd at Hogwarts. I was a bit on the promiscuous side, as are all the older Slytherin girls. I used to be a bit of a drug addict. I always did have a thing for those awesome Muggle drugs. My parents hated me. My friends abused me. My only trustworthy teacher fucked me, and then fucked me over. And that's just getting started...

My life sucks. Then again, compared to some tortured Muggles or starving people in Africa, my life is a fucking tea party. But putting that little detail aside, things are pretty bad for me. I promise you I will relate all the gory, sick, perverted, and crazed moments. I won't leave out anything. It's all here. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Things really didn't start to get out of hand until my fifth year. My best friend Anna Rookwood and I were the most crazed, slutty girls in the school and that's exactly what we were known for. Nothing could stop us, and we were loathed by most students but loved by our fellow Slytherins. We were part of a very tight nit group of Slytherin fifth, sixth, and seventh years, including myself, Anna, our friend Allia Carrow, Slytherin Quidditch Captain Luke Montague, his best friend and leader of our gang Miles Bletchley, fifth years Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and Millicent Bulstrode, and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team which included Adrian Pucey, Chris Warrington (the only sixth year guy in our group), Damien Derrick, and Aaron Bole. Miles refused to let Draco's friends Crabbe and Goyle into our group, to our relief. He only grudgingly allowed Pansy and Millicent to hang out with us, and we tended to ignore them half the time anyway. We all fucked each other, we fought with one another, we experimented with drugs together - we were inseparable and were looked upon by the rest of the school as the worst of the worst. We were all children of or of relation to at least one Death Eater - most of us had Death Eaters for parents. So, naturally, we were raised to hate Muggles and mudbloods, and we all just assumed that one day we would be Death Eaters just like our parents. How to hate was one of the first things we were taught as kids. Equality is a joke. Never trust anyone. Always put _yourself_ first.

We were simply just a messed up group, and we got away with things that we never should have. Sometimes I regret things I did then, and wonder how in the world we managed to get away with some of the things we did. The sky was the limit. Nothing ever held us back. However, things started to go downhill about halfway through my fifth year at Hogwarts. That lifestyle was simply wearing me down, and soon there would be nothing left of me. I was getting way out of hand – as was Anna – and my parents shunned me as I dug myself deeper and deeper into a giant hole. I was skipping class, consuming mass quantities of Muggle alcohol, having unprotected sex, and God only knows what else. I didn't even fully realize what I was doing to myself – I just knew that I couldn't keep doing it or else I was going to end up getting expelled from Hogwarts or something.

So anyway, it was at some point during the middle of my fifth year at Hogwarts when I was at my lowest low that I met Cho Chang, another fifth year, from Ravenclaw. It's a long boring story, believe me, so to sum it up, I owe that girl my life for how she helped me. Without her I never would have discovered my gift – Seeing – and would never have seen the good side. She became my best friend and my hope. She helped me realize that I didn't need my parent's approval to get through life, that I didn't need the dark side to become successful, that there's more to life than filling a role.

I lost my friends, I lost my family, I had nothing but a small bit of hope that I was doing the right thing. And for the rest of the school year, I was more frightened than I had even been in my entire life, but at the same time I was starting to feel happy. I made more friends – non Slytherin ones – and learned to cope with my parents, who continued to let me live in their house for the sake of the family name, but never said more than two words to me at a time. I even managed to pass my O.W.L.s with flying colors at the end of the school year.

All was well, until that summer, when the Dark Lord returned. Against my will, I was branded with the Dark Mark, and took my place as a Death Eater alongside my parents. My hope began to wither again, and when school started I tried everything I could to keep my spirits up. I put on this synthetic mask of happiness, and struggled with my inner fear and rage. But it took over me, and it was indeed out of fear that I submitted and let the inner demons take hold again. I was disgusted with myself, and it caused me to lose touch with Cho, and all my other friends, and anyone who had ever shown compassion towards me.

These new, blooming relationships ended, and the old ones crept back in. The old me, the monster who should be locked up in a cost, returned. Losing hope can really make a person do crazy things...

And so, without further ado, I present you with my inner demons on ink and paper. My worst year, and nearly almost my last year on this Earth– my sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When a new relationship formed, one with Severus Snape. It would change my life more than the Dark Mark which burned upon my arm did. No one could have predicted this. If it's possible for someone to have the worst and the best time of their life at the same instant, then this year was it for me. I will never forget a minute of it.

To this day, I still believe that if it had not been for what happened between Professor Severus Snape and I, I may have never recovered from my path of darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Potions Master (Monday, September 2nd)**

I walked down the hall of the dreary dungeon at a leisurely pace with the biggest grin stuck on my face. I didn't know what the hell I was grinning about exactly, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was the first day back at Hogwarts. I looked over at the girl walking next to me, my best friend in the whole world, Cho Chang, and she smiled a toothy grin back at me and laughed.

"What's so funny?" I said, amused by her childish giggle.

"It's that look on your face, like a child rediscovering a long lost love for candy. It's _school_, Laura; it's not healthy to be that happy about coming back!" she replied, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, I've just missed being here, that's all," I said nonchalantly. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're headed toward our first Potions lesson of the year," I finished.

Cho turned and glared at me ever so slightly, but I couldn't suppress a giggle from escaping me. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, I am just ever so _thrilled_ over the first Potions class of the year," she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm.

"It's a Slytherin thing. You wouldn't understand," I said with a small laugh. "But this year will be great. I can tell already."

"Hmm, I wonder why… does it have anything to do with the fact that you will get to see your beloved Snape again?" she replied, and I punched her playfully on the arm as we continued to walk toward the Potions classroom. She rubbed her arm and scolded me light-heartedly.

"I prefer to call it infatuation, thank you very much," I retorted. I wouldn't say I was in love with him, not even close. I was just obsessed with irking him as much as possible until the point where he would deduct points from his own House by mistake. And much to my disappointment (and the delight of the rest of Slytherin House), I still hadn't managed to reach that objective. This year, Snape was in for a surprise, because I had a few new tricks up my sleeve.

When we reached the open wooden double doors to the Potions classroom, Cho sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Oh, come on, cheer up," I said. "It's just Potions. How bad can it be?"

"Easy for you to say," Cho answered. "_You're_ a Slytherin, and you never get detentions or House points deducted in this class. Even though you so deserve it."

I couldn't help but grin at her comment. It was true that I _did_ deserve many detentions, or at least have House points taken, but Snape didn't have it in him to give detention to a Slytherin, let alone take points from his own House. Honestly, I probably deserved weeks' worth of detentions with Snape, but I had never had to sit through a single one.

Cho and I walked through the wooden archway into the Potions classroom, which was already half full with Ravenclaw and Slytherin students. The typical Double Potions class consisted of one House sitting on one side of the room, and the other House sitting on the opposite side. I looked around the room a little uneasily, confused about where we should sit.

It was rare that very good friendships developed between students of different Houses, and as I gazed at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students before me, I wondered how it could have possibly come about that Cho and I became friends.

A small smile crept onto my face as I remembered that one unforgettable day last year in our History of Magic class, when Cho and I, who had been teamed up as essay partners by the oblivious Professor Binns, decided to see if we could get away with simply walking out of class without getting noticed during one of Binns' excruciatingly long lectures. When we had escaped and gotten away with it, we sat outside the classroom door and talked until the loud bell ending class rang in the distance, at which time we walked in, got our books, and left for our next class, all the time trying to suppress ourselves from howling with laughter.

I knew from the moment we walked into Potions class that Cho would definitely not want to sit with the Slytherins, but we never had to deal with a situation like this before. Truthfully, I was glad I had this class with her; to put it simply, I didn't get along with my fellow Slytherins very well any more, and I was considered the outcast of the Slytherin House as of the middle of last year. It didn't really bother me; they weren't very good people and I was glad to be able to distance myself from them.

"There's Marietta over there. If I don't sit with her, she'll throw a fit later about how I'm betraying my own House-" Cho began with an apologetic look on her face, but I interrupted her.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "I understand. And don't worry about me; I can handle those sadistic Slytherins all by myself. After all, I have been for five years now," I added with a small smile.

Cho forced a small smile, and walked off sulking toward Marietta. I sighed heavily before making my way towards the Slytherins, who glared at me devilishly. I sat in the back row by myself as always in Slytherin's classes. _Oh, how I loathe these people_, I thought to myself bitterly.

I shook my head as I remembered the minor fact that my parents were Death Eaters, a slight detail that I had neglected to tell Cho. I figured she knew anyway, or at least that's what I had hoped. I reasoned with myself that she had to know, because over half the school apparently knew of my family's pureblood-loving, mudblood-hating, muggle-loathing ways that they never even tried to hide from the rest of the Wizarding World. It was common knowledge that my parents were very active, committed Death Eaters; even more so than the Malfoys. I furrowed my eyebrows at the thought that the Ministry of Magic was too dense to realize this. And then I mentally hit myself for thinking such a thought; I didn't want my parents to get caught! Or did I? If they did manage to get themselves caught and thrown into Azkaban, where would I end up? What a selfish thought that was…

Trying to clear my mind, I got out my copy of _Advanced_ _Potion_ _Making_ and set it on the desk. As soon as I had rid my mind of my worthless parents and what my future would be like if they really did get themselves thrown into Azkaban, those selfish thoughts were quickly replaced with mischievous ones. I really did look forward to the year ahead, and how much terror I would be able to cause in Snape's class.

And as if on cue with my thoughts, Professor Severus Snape himself burst through the wooden door located in the front of the classroom behind his desk, which I presumed led to his private office. He walked around his desk, his long black robes swishing behind him, and stood in front of the class, glaring at us with his cold onyx eyes.

He had his wand in his hand as he folded his arms across his chest, still glaring ever so maliciously at us; and no doubt, he was thinking about what nasty and wicked things to say in his opening speech to his sixth year N.E.W.T. level Potions class. _You're in for it this year_, _Snape_, I thought to myself, _and you don't have a clue about the plans I have for this year_,_ located within this sick_,_ sadistic mind of mine, but not nearly as sadistic as yours_. Again as if on cue with my thoughts, Snape turned his head to look at me with those cold black eyes of his. He gave me the feeling as if he was reading my thoughts, which was something that I had always been suspicious of him capable of doing. Surprisingly though, it didn't bother or terrify me if indeed he really was reading my thoughts.

As his icy onyx eyes gazed into my light green ones, a wicked smirk crept back onto my face. Still glaring, Snape looked away from me to the rest of the class. Snape wasn't about to waste his opening line to the class by yelling at me about some stupid grin on my face.

I was reminded of the first Potions class I had ever been in, and I remembered Snape's bewitching-the-mind, ensnaring-the-senses, bottling-fame, and brewing-glory speech as if it were yesterday, and I wondered if he was still using that same speech to his first year students, and if he was still calling them dunderheads.

I was hoping Snape would hurry up with his lecture already, so we could get on with class. Snape glanced around one last time before letting his beady eyes settle on the Ravenclaws, and began; "How most of you managed to get into this class, I'll never know, but I expect a fair amount of _cheating_ was involved. It may have gotten you this far, but don't expect me to tolerate any more of your idiocy," he took a step forward, in between the rows of desks, "foolishness," another step, "absurdity," yet another step, "or juvenile behavior. So leave now," he pointed toward the door, now only a few steps away from him, "or take your chances with one of the hardest classes within this school." _Does he really expect any of us to get up and walk out?_ I thought cynically to myself. Unexpectedly, Snape's unfeeling eyes shot towards me, and I stared in shock. With serious, thundering steps, he walked over, stood in front of me, and slammed his hands down on my desk for dramatic effect.

"Miss Madley, how did _you_ get yourself into this class?" _Are you kidding me? I'm a Slytherin! How could I not get into this class? Don't think that, stupid! He's reading my thoughts! I know it!_ Snape glared at me, and then smirked. _Wh-wha…?_

"Did you _cheat_, Miss Madley?" _Of course I didn't! You just tweaked my grade a little like you always do with the Slytherins!_

"N-No, Professor. I… I-"

"You… You, what, Laura? Of course you didn't cheat! Slytherins don't cheat, now do they?" _Well, apparently, the Sorting Hat thinks so, "Those Slytherins will use any means to achieve their ends…" Maybe you should talk to it instead…_

"There seems to be an _overwhelming_ number of Ravenclaws in this class," _Ah yes, seems so, if you consider two more Ravenclaws than Slytherins an overwhelming number of Ravenclaws, then yes… No, just shut up, quit thinking! He's still reading my thoughts, I just know it! _It was hard to tell if Snape was still glaring or smirking at me. He picked his hands up off my desk and walked back to the front of the classroom, turning his attention back to the Ravenclaws. Snape continued, "And since the Ravenclaws are no better than the Slytherins, that would mean that a Ravenclaw would have had to have cheated, yes?" _No, not really, maybe they are just smarter! After all, they are Ravenclaws, known for their intelligence! Besides, you don't see any of us nodding in agreement with you, do you? Oh, bloody hell…_ I looked at the Slytherin students in front of me, who all seemed to be nodding in unison with Snape.

"Well, no matter. Anyone who doesn't belong in this class will not last very long anyway," Snape said, glaring at a few Ravenclaws in particular, and then at… me? What did I do?! He continued, "My concern is for those who deserve to be here, and to test all of you, the first Potion you will be making is Amortentia." Snape smirked and then added, "I highly doubt any of you will be able to actually make the Potion properly by yourselves, so I've decided to let you work with another classmate, _one_ other…" He paused, looking at us. "Well? Get to it, then!" Snape finished with an irritated look, and as everyone scurried to find someone to work with, his angry gaze turned into a satisfied smirk.

I looked toward the Ravenclaws, and saw Cho talking to Marietta hurriedly, possibly arguing? _Damn_, I thought to myself. Who the hell am I supposed to pair up with? Forget Cho; Marietta would strangle her if she worked with someone in a different house, let alone Slytherin! And forget the rest of the Slytherins, too; they barely acknowledge my existence as it is, and half of them wouldn't be caught dead talking to me. I sighed and mumbled a 'shit' through gritted teeth.

To my surprise, I heard the chair next to me scrape along the floor. I looked up to see who was moving it, and to my amazement, it was Cho.

I looked questioningly at her before saying, "What are you-" but then she promptly interrupted me.

"Marietta ditched me. For her beloved boyfriend," Cho said.

I smirked, but then frowned jokingly. "Oh, so I'm just backup, huh? Since your best friend ditched you?"

"Shut up," Cho said with a tiny laugh. "So what was with you and Snape earlier? Fighting like a married couple already? And you haven't even done anything to piss him off yet… or have you?" Cho said, looking at me slightly worried, but more or less with an amused expression on her face.

I laughed and then said, "No, of course not! We haven't even been in school for a whole day! I haven't had time to carry out any of my evil plans…" I paused and look at Cho, grinning from ear to ear, "…yet."

Cho looked at me a little uneasily. "Just don't get yourself expelled."

"I won't," I replied with a mischievous grin, but at Cho's disapproving look, I added an "I promise."

She got her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ out and set it on the desk, and began talking about the Potion and how ridiculous it was that we had to make such a difficult Potion on the first day of classes. After a few nasty words she used to describe Snape, I stopped concentrating on what she was saying and lost all thoughts of the Potion. I looked around the classroom and saw Snape inspecting everyone. As if he knew I was looking at him, his eyes shot up from two Ravenclaws to look into my own eyes. Slightly shocked and more embarrassed that Snape had caught me staring at him, I felt myself blush. I immediately looked away from him, and began directing my attention towards my copy of _Advanced Potion Making_, and I pretended to be reading it intently. _What the hell is wrong with me? I'm cracking up! Get a grip, Laura!_

"Laura? Are you listening to anything I'm saying?"

"Oh… yeah, sorry. What ingredients do we need for the potion?"

"Lots of stuff. This is going to take forever! How does Snape expect us to finish this by the end of class?"

"He doesn't care," I said bleakly. _The heartless bastard doesn't give a damn, of course!_ "What stuff do you want me to get for the potion?"

"Let's see…" she said, scanning through her book. "Ah, yes, something dangerous of course; how about the frozen ashwinder eggs?"

"All right, I'll be right back," I said, getting up from my seat and heading towards the supply cupboard. I felt a pair of eyes follow me across the room, but I figured it was just Cho watching me, wondering how I had gone from friendly to dismal in just a few minutes. _It's just Snape. Get over it. Why do I care how he treats me? He's just a slimy bastard!_ I looked over my shoulder only to find Snape staring at me intently from the other side of the classroom. I felt myself blush and I quickly turned back around, continuing to walk towards the supply cupboard. I got the frozen ashwinder eggs and hurried back to my seat without glancing up once.

I sat down next to Cho, who was mumbling something indecipherable to herself. I handed her the small container of ashwinder eggs, and she snatched them from my hands hastily, throwing them into the sickly bright green mixture that was supposed to be our Potion. As soon as the ashwinder eggs hit the bubbling surface, the Potion turned a pretty shade of sapphire, and then immediately swirled into a neon pink color.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" I asked Cho hesitantly. Potions was far from being my best subject, and I trusted Cho to know how the Potion was supposed to look.

"It's not done yet!" she snapped at me.

"Ok… so now what do we do with it?" I replied.

She threw some more stuff into the Potion, and I mentally questioned myself if she knew what she was doing. Cho looked as if she was adding ingredients to the Potion at random.

Cho flipped through her book, stopped on a certain page, and began reading. I drummed my fingers on the desk impatiently, but stopped when she spoke up. "We're supposed to stir it twice every ten seconds for five minutes, switching between clockwise and counterclockwise stirs." She looked up from her book and grinned at me wickedly. "Have fun stirring."

"Me? Why me?" I retorted.

"Because you didn't do anything else! Now start stirring before the whole Potion goes to waste and we have to start all over again," Cho said with a small laugh.

I groaned and started stirring the Potion, but I nearly knocked the cauldron and all of its contents onto the floor when I heard a familiar deep voice speak from behind me.

"Miss Madley, Miss Chang. How unusual for students of two different houses to work together, is it not?" Professor Snape began while glowering at us. Before either of us could reply, he said with a sneer, "Especially a Ravenclaw," Snape paused, letting his dark eyes settle on me before continuing, "And a _Slytherin_."

Cho opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. She seemed to think better of it to not argue with Snape and was obviously considering that it wasn't worth snapping back at him if she would soon afterwards receive a detention for it. I, on the other hand, found it impossible to bite my tongue, especially at an opportunity to aggravate Snape that was so welcoming.

Before I could even think about keeping my mouth shut, I had looked Snape right in the eye. "Sorry Professor, but not all Slytherins are narrow-minded idiots," I said with a smirk. The look on Snape's face at that moment was priceless, but he quickly recovered from the shock of what I had just said. His stunned expression turned into one of both amusement and disgust.

"You're going to have to learn how to hold your tongue this year, Laura. Sheer luck and confidence won't get you passing marks in my class anymore." Snape smirked smugly and strode away. For a change, I was the one left with a shocked look upon my face.

When Snape was no longer within earshot, Cho turned to me and said with a content and satisfied grin, "I think it's now safe to say that neither of us will be taking Potions next year."

I was still recovering from Potions class by the time lessons had ended for the day and Cho and I were heading down to the Great Hall for dinner. Not only had the shock not worn off yet, but Cho's constant rambling wasn't helping the situation get any better.

"What does it matter?" she said as we sat down with Marietta and her friends at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. "Just get over it; you aren't going to pass Potions this year. Besides, what do you need N.E.W.T. level Potions for anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said as I started to put food onto my plate. "I just…" I paused. The honest answer would have been that I really had no reason to take Potions during my last two years at Hogwarts. It's not like I wanted to be an Auror or anything…

I heard Marietta snicker and I looked up at her. "What's so funny, Edgecombe?"

"Oh, nothing," she said in a sing-song voice. "It's just that, who's ever heard of a Slytherin failing Potions class?" Marietta continued with a chuckle.

I sighed angrily and stood up from the table and stormed off toward the Slytherin common room. I had reached the top of the steps leading down to the dungeon halls when I heard Cho running to catch up to me, but I ignored her and kept sauntering towards the dungeons. She caught up to me and grabbed me by my arm, pulling me back toward the Great Hall.

"Let go of me! I don't want to see or talk to that stupid bitch!" I yelled at her.

"Oh, shut up, Laura, you're just being a drama queen!" Cho replied while laughing at me.

After she had already managed to drag me half way back to the Great Hall, I sighed, giving up, and pulled my arm from her grip. I crossed my arms over my chest and sulked while I followed Cho back to the Great Hall, who was still shaking her head and sniggering at me.

When we had reached the Ravenclaw table and had sat back down, I avoided Marietta's gaze entirely, afraid that just one glimpse might send her into another fit of giggles.

"Give me your schedule. I want to see if we have any more classes together," Cho said to me, holding out her hand. I reached into the pocket of my robes to find my schedule, which had been folded and unfolded so many times, there were so many creases in it, and it was starting to become hard to read. I handed it to Cho, who opened it and laid it on the table, flattening it out with her hand in an attempt to smooth out the creases and wrinkles.

"What the hell did you do to this thing? I can barely read it!"

"Oh, um, just a habit of mine. I fold paper when I'm nervous," I said. Cho just shook her head at me. While she was comparing our schedules, I continued to dig in the pockets of my robes, because I couldn't find my wand, and I was afraid I might have left it in Ancient Runes. I looked on the floor, and there it was. I leaned back to pick it up, but when I started to sit up, my head collided with something hard and metal. I yelped an "Ow!" and before I could hold my tongue I started shrieking, "What the bloody hell do you think you're- Professor Snape! Er…" I had finally looked up, and right into the black eyes of none other than Snape, who was holding a rather large cauldron, which I presumed I had hit my head on. "I… um…"

"That's the third time you've been at a loss for words today, Laura. Perhaps you're losing your touch?" Snape smirked and turned away, heading towards the staff table at the other end of the Great Hall.

I dropped my wand into my pocket and turned back around, staring at my half full plate with my mouth gaping and my eyes unblinking, just utterly bewildered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cho hand me my schedule, and I absentmindedly took it from her, folded it back up perfectly, and placed it in my robe pocket along with my wand.

I finally blinked when Cho said, "What a bastard! He didn't even apologize! If I could, I would walk right up to him and say every foul thing that popped into my mind, he is such a prat…" but at that point I had stopped listening to Cho's full fledged attack on Professor Snape. I didn't snap back into reality until I had realized that she had stopped talking at last; and finally I glanced up from my plate, except into the eyes of Marietta, who was smirking. As soon as I looked up at her, she immediately burst into a fit of giggles, and there was no need to ask her what the hell she was giggling about.

"By the way, Laura, I forgot to mention to you, we've got Divination together tomorrow morning, and then Potions again Friday afternoon," Cho said as we walked toward the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Oh, _perfect_… Potions at the very beginning of the week, and at the very end," I said with sarcasm. This year wasn't exactly going as I had planned it to, and I was no longer sure if I actually wanted to put up with Snape this year, the bloody git.

"You know you're secretly enjoying it, Laura. You won't be able to wait for Monday to start all weekend," Cho smiled.

I laughed, but then added in a serious tone, "No, I promise you that I will definitely _not_ be looking forward to Mondays this year, no matter what class we have first. And if Snape continues to act like the little prat that he is this year, then you're right, Cho, I'm not going to pass Potions." I sighed out of frustration and shook my head. "Whatever's gotten him into this foul temper so early better end soon, or else Potions won't be any fun whatsoever this year."

"You've finally made him snap. And what do you mean by a 'foul temper so early?' When does Snape not have a temper, foul or otherwise?" Cho said as we reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower.

She mumbled the password and we entered the Ravenclaw common room, which was bustling with students. I snuck into the common room with the help of Cho and shielded my face with my hand as I walked hurriedly behind her. We dashed up the steps of the tower and into the dormitory of the Ravenclaw sixth year girls, and she pulled the door shut behind her. Luckily, only Marietta was there. When she caught sight of me, she started to giggle again and I knew exactly why, but when I not so nicely told her to shut her fat trap, Cho scolded me and Marietta rolled her eyes as she left for the common room.

"So, did you bring it with you like I asked?" Cho said, sitting down on her bed.

I sighed. "Well, yes… but don't get your hopes up, Cho. It's not very likely that I'm going to see anything. These things just happen naturally. It's not like I can just look at it and expect to see something."

I could tell Cho had ignored every word I had just said when she replied with, "Well, where is it then?"

Setting my schoolbag down on the floor, I started to pull all of my books out of it and pile them next to me on the floor. At the bottom of my bag was a very large and glowing crystal orb, which I very gently lifted out of the bag, cradling it in my hands as I carried it across the room. I sat down on the bed across from Cho and placed the shining crystal ball between us. I looked up at Cho, whom I expected to be smiling from ear to ear, but instead, there was an expression on her face that I couldn't read. She looked as if she might have been changing her mind about me trying to look into her future.

"Promise me that if it's anything really bad, you won't tell me, okay?" she said, glancing up at me. I had never seen her look so anxious before in my life.

"All right," I said with a small sigh, looking back down at the crystal ball. "But like I said before, I can't promise you that I will be able to see anything at all. I've only been doing this for three years, you know."

"Right," she said quietly to herself. She sighed, deep in thought, and after a few seconds she said, "Okay. I'm ready. Go ahead."

My immediate reaction when I looked down at the misty crystal ball was that this was definitely not going to work, and I was disappointed with myself for thinking this before even trying. I found myself trying to think of anything about Cho's future, but I saw no images of forthcoming, no flashes of yet to come, no scenes of future.

For a very brief second, I thought my eyes had deceived me. Before my very eyes, within the mist of the dimly glowing crystal orb, was a landscape that I had never been to or seen before. It only took a fraction of a moment before I realized what I was seeing, and my heart instantly dropped into my stomach. There were two figures, one was unmistakably The Boy Who Lived, and the other was the lifeless form of Cedric Diggory. My stomach lurched when I realized who it was. This was definitely not the future; it was the past, less than three months ago, when Harry Potter had come out of the final task of the Triwizard Tournament carrying the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory. Not only that, but Harry Potter had come out of the maze claiming that Lord Voldemort had returned.

I looked up from the crystal ball and Cho was looking at me eagerly.

The frown on my face must have told her that I had seen something, because she immediately said, "Well? Did you see anything?"

_I am not going to tell you, I am not going to tell you, I am not going to tell you… _"Cho, I don't think this is such a very good idea," I replied while looking at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" she asked miserably. "I knew it would be..."

"No, Cho, it wasn't… well…" I said, trying to calm her so she wouldn't start crying. "It wasn't what you think it was! I mean, it wasn't the future, it was the past, which is really odd, because I don't think I'm supposed to be able to see the past," I said thoughtfully while starting to stare off into space.

"So what did you see then?" Cho stifled, her eyes becoming tear filled.

I remained dead quiet, hoping that Cho would not continue to interrogate me. _Don't you dare start crying, Cho, _I thought bitterly to myself. _I'm not that good at handling other people's emotional problems, so please, please, please, whatever you do, don't start crying…_

If at that precise moment someone had told me that Cho was an accomplished Legilimens, I would have believed them in a heartbeat. Cho began sobbing hysterically, and I sat there frozen as the tears burst from her eyes like a fountain. Her tears quickly became a muddy brown color as her make up began to run down her face. She was mumbling through her sobs, and the only distinguishable words were 'Cedric' and 'dead' and 'my fault.' What caused Cho to think that Cedric's death was her fault was beyond me.

I was beginning to suffer from extreme guilt, because during Cho's outbursts of emotions throughout the summer I found it difficult to feel caring, concern, or sympathy towards her. This occasion of her flaring up of emotions was no different. This annoyance was now turning into downright frustration with myself, and I did the unthinkable.

I snatched up the foggy crystal ball, walked over to the only window in the room, opened it, and launched it out the window with all my might. Satisfied with my release of anger, I closed the window, turned around, and crossed my arms while grinning contently to myself. The expression on Cho's face was no longer that of sorrow, but of shock and amusement.

"You do realize we're almost at the top of the Ravenclaw Tower?" she said, arching an eyebrow out me.

"Oops," I said sarcastically with a wicked grin. "I guess I forgot that little detail."

"Do that often? Just hurl one hundred galleon crystal balls out of windows?" she replied, shaking her head at me. She could criticize all she wanted, but at least the tears had ended.

"Who cares? It's a stupid waste of time anyway," I said irritably.

"That's your mother talking," Cho said.

The anger was flaring up again. This was, unquestionably, not a good time to talk about my mother, especially when I had just escaped her yesterday when I had gotten on the train to Hogwarts.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't matter, because I'm not going to be able to make a career out of being a Seer anyway," I said.

"What about Trelawney? She did."  
"She's a crackpot!"

"She's got a job!"

"She's a _teacher_!"

"But she's a _Seer_, and she has a _job_!"

I sighed out of frustration and grabbed my schoolbag, which was now considerably lighter due to a missing crystal ball. "See you tomorrow," I mumbled and left. I raced down the steps of the girls' dormitories, through the common room, and down the steps of the Ravenclaw Tower with surprising speed. I reached the top of the marble staircase and looked down at the Entrance Hall where only half a dozen students lingered, coming in from the school grounds after one of the remaining few summer days was ending. I could have been out there with them, but instead I had been wasting my time staring at a worthless, foggy glass ball. After silently cursing Cho under my breath, I began descending the marble staircase with incredulous speed, only to slip halfway down and slide the rest of the way on my ass. My schoolbag slid, too, or more like _flew_ down the steps, landing with a loud bang when it hit the stone floor. Books, quills, ink, and parchment flew everywhere.

"FUCK!" I screamed without thinking, drawing a few stares from some frightened first years. I got up and picked up my schoolbag, shoving everything back inside hastily. "DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT! Could this day get any fucking worse?!" I screamed at myself, but those words had been spoken too soon.

"Your crude language has just earned you a Saturday detention with me, Madley," said an all too familiar deep, yet mocking voice.

I looked up from my many books and quills into the dark eyes of the one and only Professor Severus Snape. He smirked at me and I furrowed my eyebrows. Snape had apparently just come in from the school grounds, and did not stop as he walked by me toward the dungeons. He shifted his gaze from my angry glare back to his dungeon destination. As he strode away, his black robes billowing out behind him, my eye caught a reflection of light. Snape was carrying something shiny, large, and heavy in his right arm. It didn't take me more than a fraction of a second to realize what it was, the crystal ball that I had hurled out of the window of the Ravenclaw Tower not twenty minutes ago. I gasped and dropped the book in my hand. Snape stopped and turned to glance at me with a look of curiosity and speculation in his black eyes. I pretended to cough and immediately turned my attention back to my schoolbag. I didn't glance up until I heard Snape's footsteps on the stone floor, leading towards the dungeons again. At that moment, I prayed, _prayed_, that Snape had no idea that the crystal ball belonged to me, and I tried to convince myself that there was no way for him to know anyway. He couldn't know, or else he would have said something… right?


End file.
